Donovan Clingan finally looks like the dominant center the Portland Trail Blazers envisioned when they decided to buy out Deandre Ayton this offseason.
This was yet another game that the Portland lost in heartbreaking fashion by a buzzer-beater three. This time it was at the hands of Nikola Vucevic, who put the Chicago Bulls on top 122-121. The shorthanded Blazers had no business being in this game, but rallied back with a 31-7 run over an eight-minute stretch in the fourth quarter. Besides the grit they showed in the comeback, another silver lining was the play of Clingan.
The Blazers' former No. 7 overall pick had his best game of the season, finishing with 17 points, 21 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and one steal on 7-of-13 shooting from the field. Ten of those rebounds came on the offensive end, making him the first player with 10+ offensive and defensive rebounds since Rudy Gobert in March of 2025.
Donovan Clingan proves Blazers were right to prioritize him
Clingan hasn't been bad this season by any means, but he's been off to a slow start relative to expectations following a promising All-Rookie campaign. Not only was he set to take on an increased role following Ayton's departure, but he also drastically improved his conditioning to handle these starter-level minutes without compromising his level of play.
Blazers fans finally saw that in action as Clingan also recorded a season high 34 minutes, finishing with a +8 despite the loss. Clingan previously stated that he planned to play "at least 30" minutes a night, thanks to his improved conditioning, but this was the first game of the season he exceeded that.
Robert Williams III was out due to left knee injury management, as the plan is for him not to play consecutive back-to-backs throughout the season. Interim head coach Tiago Splitter's options were limited as the Blazers were shorthanded yet again, but those issues were primarily in the backcourt as Clingan filled the frontcourt void exceptionally well.
On the season, the UConn product is averaging 8.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.6 blocks in 25 minutes per game. If he continues to play at this level and make an impact on both ends of the court, Splitter will have no choice but to increase his minutes to the 30-plus a night he expected heading into the season.
Part of the reason behind the relatively slow start was Clingan's lack of assertiveness. At 7-foot-2 and 280 pounds, he wasn't fully utilizing his physical tools to impose his will on the game, particularly on the offensive end, as he had too much of a tendency to hang around the perimeter. Now, he's making his presence felt on the interior on both ends, as evidenced by the video game-like 21 rebounds.
Ayton is fitting in surprisingly well in Los Angeles (for now). But with the way Clingan has looked as of late, the Blazers shouldn't care about that at all. They wisely made their center of the future a priority, and we're finally starting to see the benefits of that as Clingan only continues to improve.